HP Stream ($199): Comes w/ Office 365, Windows 8.1, etc -- Chromebook Killer?

[razor767]

Looks pretty good for the price. Are we finally starting to see decent low cost devices? I hope so.

[Gunjob]

More leaked photos from the HP test labs. They conclude the cooling is adequate.

 

[Ruostunut kokis]

Kinda interesting to see almost decently priced laptops / tablets coming to markets. Prices still aren't good IMO (or I'm just a massive cheap-ass), but they're getting better, somehow...

 

Still though, at that price point, I personally would look for <200$ second-hand laptops. I can see the point of those cheap Windows 8.1 devices, though.

[DarrenP]

If it's IPS or at least a good TN, hell yes I am buying one.

SLS, c'mon IPS in that price range. 

[DigitalHermit]

I'll take the cheap notebooks please... I need something not too powerful and not too expensive to take with me to classes...

 

Edit: Hopefully they come in less attention-grabbing colors... like black... or black... or black....

 

Microsoft be like PLEASE BUY OUR STUFF PLEASE BUY OUR STUFF WE'LL GIVE YOU ALL THIS STUFF FOR FREE BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE WANTS IT!

 

Don't worry MS I'll buy your stuff because free... (Who doesn't like free stuff?)

[Jonathan Yonke]

Does anyone who has a windows tablet feel like its easy to use? Coming from Android where the entire OS is touch based, I can not even imagine trying to use full blown windows 8 on a 7" screen with just my fingers. Am i wrong here?

[brownninja97]

i dont like hp at all, however fanless laptops are always a nice thing to have.

[Ruostunut kokis]

Does anyone who has a windows tablet feel like its easy to use? Coming from Android where the entire OS is touch based, I can not even imagine trying to use full blown windows 8 on a 7" screen with just my fingers. Am i wrong here?

I have Acer Iconia W510 (high school -issued, actually, but we can do whatever we want with them, whenever we want), and while the tablet / convertible may or may not be that great (Acer isn't really well known for quality... We've had few problems with these), just using Windows 8 as a tablet OS... Mayybe not the best one out there, but not difficult to use, at least when compared to Android. However the keyboard dock (also has a laptop -like touchpad, plus an additional battery) helps a ton using it: with that, it  basically feels like a 10" tablet sized Windows laptop / netbook. The touch interface isn't as easy as on Android IMO, but it's definitely not hard at all. Doing work with just the touch screen can feel a bit odd, but hey: you can do more work with Windows 8 tablets than on other tablets with different OS (Android and iOS), not just taking notes, but writing text docs, maybe edit videos, etc.

 

Although, my experiences can be a bit biased / twisted, as I've never used an Android tablet nor an iPad (only used Android on a phone, but I guess it's somewhat the same experience on a tablet as it is on smartphones)

[Mooshi]

Seems like the ideal system you buy your mom who only uses the internet for light browsing and videos.

[Scheer]

Under $250 for a 10 or 11" tablet with a full size USB port on it and I'm in... but 8" is too small IMO, I have no idea how people use 7" tablets.

 

As for HP being bad... you get what you pay for, how is that surprising? HP's $1000+ laptops are extremely nice, and have no issues other than a bit of bloatware (much less than the cheap ones). I've bought a few elitebooks now for my uncle's company for the foremen, they typically make it 6 months on a laptop until it is limping along from damage... The first elitebook we bought is now three years old and functions like brand new other than several dents in the aluminum body of it. 

 

I'm STILL daily using my $100 HP touchpad tablet (understandably, it wasn't supposed to be for sale at $100 lol). I gave my other one to my 3 year old son at the time, now over two years later its been dropped a million times, the plastic is broken all over the place on it, but it still functions fine. The original charger and cables are still working as well.

[Hypnotoad]

 

It's not launching today, as per the article, it's launching in November.  

[MoonSpot]

from what I've been able to find on the stream laptops, my opinion of it has gone from "Meh, sure" to "Yea, no thanks.".   I can deal with the non upgradable 64GB eMMC flash (soldered in), but the non upgradeable 2GB of soldered in RAM really chaps my @$$.

[TopWargamer]

from what I've been able to find on the stream laptops, my opinion of it has gone from "Meh, sure" to "Yea, no thanks.".   I can deal with the non upgradable 64GB eMMC flash (soldered in), but the non upgradeable 2GB of soldered in RAM really chaps my @$$.

Just saying, but my Dell Venue 8 Pro only has 2GB of RAM, and honestly, the tablet is still super speedy and I have yet to come across a multi-tasking problem.

[TopWargamer]

 

It's not launching today, as per the article, it's launching in November.  

My bad. Completely overlooked that. Edited my OP/title. Thanks!

[MoonSpot]

Just saying, but my Dell Venue 8 Pro only has 2GB of RAM, and honestly, the tablet is still super speedy and I have yet to come across a multi-tasking problem.

I'm a tab monster(as we all are), add multimedia within OneNote from recording lectures to that and I doubt It'll be a smooth experience for me.

Not too sure how eMMC flash would like being treated as constant paging/virtual ram.

[Builder]

Hey Apple fanboy, get bent

If that's flame bait then what the fuck did you just post?

[mr moose]

I have found HP products to be really goo quality.  Sure if you buy a cheap low spec machine it'll run slower, but at least it won't break as easy as a cheap acer can.

[Suika]

I was actually considering selling my ultrabook in favor of a cheaper laptop for school, and these look mildly interesting.

The tablet, Stream 8, looks pretty nice too.

[Builder]

I have found HP products to be really goo quality.  Sure if you buy a cheap low spec machine it'll run slower, but at least it won't break as easy as a cheap acer can.

You should see my friend's HP laptop...CD drive fell out, hinge broke, side panels are falling off, and the whole lid is held on with duck tape. I can say I had a similar experience with my HP Pavilion dtsomething. Never really appreciated their build quality.

 

He ordered a MacBook to replace it. 

[Clyne]

Pavilion = Consumer product.

Elitebook = Commercial (business) product.

You get what you pay for.

I think that Stream 13 might make a decent Linux carry. The fanless design intrigues me.

I'm pointing that that my old laptop that has a dual core cpu that is clocked at 2.4ghz with 2gb of ram runs faster than my newer laptop that has a quad core that is clocked a 2.1ghz(2.9ghz turbo) with 6gb of ram.

[Clyne]

You should see my friend's HP laptop...CD drive fell out, hinge broke, side panels are falling off, and the whole lid is held on with duck tape. I can say I had a similar experience with my HP Pavilion dtsomething. Never really appreciated their build quality.

 

He ordered a MacBook to replace it. 

^ I agree with this statement, if you want something from HP, then buy a Elitebook instead because they have better build quality then a Pavilion.(IMO)

[mr moose]

You should see my friend's HP laptop...CD drive fell out, hinge broke, side panels are falling off, and the whole lid is held on with duck tape. I can say I had a similar experience with my HP Pavilion dtsomething. Never really appreciated their build quality.

 

He ordered a MacBook to replace it. 

 

Perhaps he shouldn't use it as a wheel chock and get his parking brake fixed.

[Builder]

Perhaps he shouldn't use it as a wheel chock and get his parking brake fixed.

Haha no this is just pulling it in and out of his backpack and using the CD drive vigorously. Maybe one drop too. The lid problem happened when it got stuck. He tried to open it but the hinge jammed it self. When he finally pried it open the bottom part of the bezel just snapped clean off and stayed attached in the stuck position.

[Scheer]

from what I've been able to find on the stream laptops, my opinion of it has gone from "Meh, sure" to "Yea, no thanks.".   I can deal with the non upgradable 64GB eMMC flash (soldered in), but the non upgradeable 2GB of soldered in RAM really chaps my @$$.

 

I don't find it very fair to be pissed off at them trying to save money by soldering RAM on when the price point is this low... On a $1500 device, yeah it should be user replaceable, but even then most high end ultrabooks are soldered on now as well. Saves money, and makes the device more thin. 

 

I'm a tab monster(as we all are), add multimedia within OneNote from recording lectures to that and I doubt It'll be a smooth experience for me.

Not too sure how eMMC flash would like being treated as constant paging/virtual ram.

 

Budget devices are NEVER intended for heavy users.

[Heisenbleurgh]

Looks cool but for the price it sounds like the sort of device to expect to be replacing after a year or so.